Introspection
by Neo the Saiyan angel
Summary: There comes a time when a man questions how his life is going. This is one of them.


*DDRRRRIIIIINNNNGGGG*

"Roll call! Get up, scum!"

Drakken twitched and grumbled at the morning wake-up. Wasn't there some easier, less painful (to the ears and the emotions; criminals have feelings, too!) way to wake them all up to make sure they were all there. Not that it mattered much. If there were to be a break-out, it'd be flashy and loud, like both times that Shego escaped.

Drakken's eye twitched, and it wasn't because his cellmate had started blathering again. No, it was most definitely because of his ex-sidekick.

Oh yes, she was his ex-sidekick.

Most assuredly.

…well, unless she came back for him.

'_But_' he thought as the guard went through their row, counting each head as he went '_she's obviously left me here to rot. Especially after the display she had the second time_.' Her parting farewell of "See you later, Loser!" still rang in his ears.

Well…he _had_ lost. His best scheme ever ruined by a children's toy gun, a couple of teenagers, and a naked pink gerbil. Did that make him a loser?

"No," Drakken muttered quietly. He'd come close to winning, hadn't he? That had to count for something!

"What was that?" Apparently, the guard had asked something and Drakken had just the wrong thing to say.

"What?" Drakken quickly realized his mistake, though it was still too late.

"I _said_ do any of you freaks plan on doin' somethin' productive with your lives besides wastin' our time?" The guard was obviously bored, daring the inmates to do something to liven up the dredge work of role call.

Drakken gave the guard an angry glare. "Of course I do! Once I conquer the world, I—"

"You could not even conquer ze state of VINCONSIN! Vat makes you tink zat you could conquer ze vorld?" a voice farther down the row yelled.

"Shut UP, Dementor! I came closer with my Diablos than you ever have!" Drakken yelled back.

"Und now look at you, jah? A washed-up LOSER whose SIDEKICK has even left him to ze prisons. YOU! ARE! A! _**FAILURE**_!" Dementor broke out of his line and charged up to Drakken, who stood his ground and tried to use his height advantage to stare down the yellow mad scientist.

"What? Oh no, buddy, you've got to the talking about the wrong guy. This is Doctor Drakken! He's a great supervillain and his weapons are some of the best in the world," Lucre tried to butt in.

No one listened to him.

"Well, if I'm a failure, then you're a _super_ failure because I almost won!" Drakken said triumphantly, an air of smug superiority around him.

"It DOES NOT COUNT if you 'almost' vin." Dementor's glare somehow became angrier. "Almost does not the counting make. Besides, it is not like you vill get ze chance again. You will be stuck here for ze REST of your MISERABLE LIFE!"

The guard sighed and pulled out his walkie-talkie. "Code blue and yellow. I repeat, code blue and yellow. Those two are at it again."

Drakken blanched, but managed to hold onto it before it could be noticed. "And what makes you so sure that the same thing won't happen to you?" Drakken said, hoping that no one would notice his sudden shift of attitude.

Dementor smirked. "Unlike you, I haff ze competent, _LOYAL_ henchmen. Ze vill come…" He was cut off by a gag over his mouth. Drakken got the same treatment and before they knew it, they were both restrained.

"Solitary for both of you for a bit. Let's try to control those tempers, eh?" the guard told them while smiling a little.

Several minutes later, Drakken found himself in a familiar cell. Considering how often he and Dementor fought, they should just make this his permanent cell instead of torturing him with Lucre's presence. But Drakken was distracted from this familiar thought by a completely foreign, unthought of thought that his rival had implanted in his head.

_Was_ Doctor Drakken stuck here? Could there really be no escape for him? Surely _someone_ would need his expertise? Somewhere?

But…it had been months. No calls, no break-out attempts (except for Lucre's lame nail file attempt; _that_ had been sad), not even a postcard. He knew his mother knew he was here. Eddie did as well since he'd been the one to break Shego out the second time. And Drakken had been left.

If the situation had been reversed, he was sure that he would have broken Eddie out if only to not catch any at the next family reunion. Yet Eddie had left him.

Shego was his sidekick. The closest thing he had to a friend. She mocked him, belittled him, but she still listened sometimes and helped with her thievery. And she'd left him.

Everyone had left Doctor Drakken in his cage.

As much as he hated to admit it, Dementor had a horrible point. There was no one coming for him. He was going to spend the rest of his days being thrown in isolation and stuck with an insane cheapskate as his cellmate.

For some reason, that felt worse than losing his grand scheme months ago.

And thinking back to what the bored guard had asked, Drakken suddenly found himself without an answer.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Just a short little one-shot that I came up with while staring at the snow. -shrug- Hope ya enjoy.

Thanks to kwebs for giving it a look before I posted it.


End file.
